“Marble, do you ever get the feeling that something weird is going on?” Limestone asked her sister in a low voice, leaning over almost muzzle to muzzle when she spoke. The filly looked at her mother and father; both were acting weird. Tarnished Teapot was acting weird too, as was expected, and Maud… well, Maud was Maud. Other than Maud’s mane sticking out in all directions, Maud hadn’t changed in the slightest.
Chewing her vegetable pot pie, Marble did not reply, but she did look over at her mother, who had a very strange smile upon her face. Shrugging, Marble suspected that her mother was happy because Maud was happy. At least, everypony assumed that Maud was happy. Maud might look like she was about to drop dead from boredom at any moment, but that was normal and nothing to worry about.
“Mom, you went through a lot of work for supper… pot pies are a lot of effort.” Limestone looked down at her food and then lifted her head so she could look at her mother once more.
“Oh, I was feeling spry. And hungry. I was very hungry,” Cloudy replied. She smiled. “I was in the mood to make little pies.”
Coughing, Igneous banged on his barrel with his hoof, his eyes wide, and he gasped as he tried to get much needed air down into his lungs. He set down his spoon, closed his eyes, and sat back in his chair, his barrel rising and falling.
“Something seems off… I’m telling ya, something is weird,” Limestone said.
Blinking once, Maud looked up from her plate. In a stunning monotone she said, “I suspect that mother literally wanted to make little pies. I am reminded of the time when I had to explain to Pinkie Pie that mother wasn’t crying and that Pinkie should not go into mom and dad’s room to make mom feel better.”
There was a loud, shrill squeak from Igneous, followed by a -shlornk!- sound. The clatter of various bits of silverware dropping filled the room. After having dropped her spoon, Marble covered both eyes with her front hooves.
“Mom went through the trouble to make an extra nice supper because of a burst of post coital energy.” Maud looked down at her pot pie, one ear twitched, and then she resumed eating.
“Maud, dearest, I… I am at a loss for words.” Cloudy looked at her oldest daughter, her breathing shallow and she had begun to perspire.
Swallowing, Maud paused between bites to say, “Mom, biology happens.” When the last of the words had left her mouth, she resumed eating.
“Well… this is the part where we awkwardly return to eating supper.” Limestone shuddered and picked up her spoon. The filly took a deep breath, focused on her food, and dug in.
Igneous, having recovered somewhat, and in a hurry to restore normalcy, asked Tarnish, “Would you mind passing the baked beans?”
Inside of the old silo, the very silo where Pinkie Pie had thrown her very first party, Tarnished Teapot looked over all of his hard work. A great many poison joke stamens were spread out on tables to dry out.
He thought about his cutie mark, his purpose, and his destiny. Perhaps he wasn’t cursed. Perhaps his destiny wasn’t to suffer from his cutie mark and odd magic; but instead, maybe some glorious future awaited him, a future that involved him studying poison joke.
It had been a painful moment to realise that he could have tried taking responsibility for his own future four years ago when his cutie mark had appeared. He could have tried looking for answers then. He could have picked up a book, asked questions, he could have tried doing something.
But he had done none of those things. He had sat back and allowed life to happen. He allowed himself to be the victim, and then, when something happened, Tarnish would make excuses, saying that it couldn’t be helped.
Only now, he was starting to believe that it could be helped. He was starting to believe that his talent made him special. It was an empowering thought, one that made Tarnished Teapot feel good about himself.
“Is it safe for me to be in here?”
Tarnish turned around and saw a purplish-grey filly. “Hello Marble… it’s safe. The petals of poison joke are dangerous.”
Marble took a few more steps and then had a look around. “Can we talk?”
“I don’t see why not… what did you have in mind?” Tarnish replied. He saw Marble blush, her face turning a much darker shade of purple.
“You’re a colt… and I wanted to know how I would go about getting your attention—” Marble squeaked and then shook her head. “No no no! Not your attention… but getting a colt’s attention in general.”
“Marble, I don’t know. Not all colts are the same.” Tarnished Teapot smiled and tried to put the filly at ease.
“Sonneur… he’s amazing. He reads a lot of the same books I do. Did you know that Sonneur is a Fancy word that means ringer? I’m so shy though, and so is he.” Marble stared down at her front hooves and sighed.
“You’ve been talking to me… I’m a colt,” Tarnish said, trying to be helpful but not knowing what to say.
“You’re different.”
“How am I different?”
“You’re Maud’s colt… and you haven’t tried to flirt with me even once.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah, see, I know that you’re harmless and I’ve seen the way you look at Maud, it is the same way that papa looks at mama and I’ve talked with Maud and she’s told me how you hang on her every word and watch everything she does and… and… oh Tarnish, I want that for myself so badly… I’m so alone that it hurts. Limestone makes it seem so easy to make friends. She can just walk into a room and be the life of the party and sometimes I hate her for it.” Marble closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
“The only thing I can say is that you should try showing him that you’re interested somehow.” Tarnish thought about his suggestion and a solitary wrinkle appeared upon his nasal bridge. “Maybe you can go up to him and ask him if he would like to trade books sometime? And if he says yes, you could try leaving a little note tucked in the pages. Be direct and just say exactly what you want. He’ll appreciate that.”
Marble’s head lifted, her eyes opened, and a beaming smile spread across her muzzle. “Oh… that’s brilliant! That’s a good idea! Thank you!” Letting out a fillyish squeal, Marble turned tail and ran out of the silo.
As she was going out the door, she bumped into Maud. Marble bounced in place a few times, almost pronking, kissed Maud on the cheek, and then ran away, leaving Maud standing there, looking bored and sleepy.
“Now you’re just showing off… winning the affection, love, and trust of my sister.” Maud blinked, stepped inside, and pulled the door shut behind her. “Marble means the world to me. All of my sisters mean the world to me. And you’ve been nice to all of them.”
Tarnish shrugged. “I never had sisters growing up. I was an only foal. I like having them around.”
“I came out to tell you, mama is putting a record on the phonograph and we were going to have a listen before we went to bed. You should join us… these family moments are important to us and our Pie family values.” Maud looked into Tarnish’s eyes and gave him a sleepy stare. “Family is very important to me Tarnish. It is how I define my existence and safeguard myself from existential angst when I feel a cold, unfeeling universe that is hostile towards my existence pressing in upon me. During those moments, I panic and I suffer a crisis, terrified of having to endure a meaningless existence devoid of any comfort or familiarity. Having a family gives me peace of mind.”
“If I follow you inside, will you explain whatever it is that you just said to me?”